Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Rollins on Mets: 'We're Going to Win'

Jimmy Rollins is amused with the talk he hears from New York Mets camp.

“This is still going on?” he said today.

Carlos Beltran kiddingly told New York reporters Tuesday that Cole Hamels, who called the Mets “choke artists” on a New York radio station over the winter, “will be watched every time he faces us and hopefully we kill him. Then he has to deal with the situation.”

“I guess when Cole is pitching, they are going to step it up and of course we are going to stand up for Cole,” Rollins said. “So that is going to force us to step it up. But that just brings out the best in both teams.”

But here was Rollins’ kicker.

“We’re going to win,” he said, “but it definitely will bring out the best in both teams.”

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

21 Comments

Love it, Love it, Love it! I can’t get enough of those choke-artists blathering on about us, the World F’n Champions.
This goes to show that they can’t just shutup and prove us wrong on the field. J-Roll has all the room in the world to talk: “Team to Beat” “100 wins”…. The Mets have NOTHING on the Phillies.

Got the message Zo, thanks. This rivalry is so great. Kinda like the Pirates-Phils back in the 70’s without the trash talking (and the Bucs didn’t fold). I think it’s a plus for us, keeps the Phils on the edge a little when they are playing the Mutts. Now if we can somehow not lose the games we do to the Marlins and Nationals, who always play us tough.

You need to take a step back and realize the challenge the Phillies are going up against. Some people don’t realize it, but the competition in the NL is very balanced, much more than the AL.
”Hunger” has a lot to do with this. Look at the previous three NL teams that were in the World Series. None have been back in the postseason, and only one has finished over .500 since. Of the previous 7 NL teams who’ve won World Series in the past 21 years, 5 of those teams didn’t make the postseason the following year. The majority of those teams (4/7) ended up sub-.500 the next season. That includes the ’89 Dodgers, ’91 Reds, ’98 Marlins & ’07 Cardinals.

Besides the fact that no NL team has won back-to-back WS titles since 1975-76, but no NL team has been to the World Series in back-to-back seasons since 1995-96. Sadly, no NL team has even been passed the divisional round more than one year in a row since 2005-2006. No NL team has been to the postseason 3 seasons in a row either, since the St. Louis Cardinals in between 2004-2006. The Phillies got their title. Their fans will be on cloud nine, until some point during this season. They should be enjoying it, because the truth is, duplicating it is very hard. I think the Phillies have had some tough breaks since though. One, Chase Utley’s hip. Even if it’s healthy, he’s a hard worker, and he may rush back, hurting himself again. Two, Pat Gillick’s retired. Suppodely in the beginning of the off-season, they offered Burrell 2 year/22 million, which he rejected, and later signed with the Rays for 6 million less. Than the Phillies rushed into over-spending on a 4 1/2 year older left-handed hitter, who’s as poor defensively as Pat, who’ll log jam their line-up, and overly expose them to Johan Santana and Oliver Perez (who has incredible numbers against the Phillies).

They’ve also lost J.C. Romero until at least June. The biggest question for the Phillies are can they rely on Brett Myers for a full season, and is Jamie Moyer’s age going to catch up to him. Honestly, if you compare the Mets and Phillies rotation, Santana has the edge on Hamels, Pelfrey’s got room for improvement, and has more potential than Myers, who’s a free agent at the end of next season. Moyer was better than Perez last season, but we’ll have to see. Blanton’s an inning’s eater, and was clutch down the stretch, but if Maine’s healthy, he’s obviously better. But just looking at this from a philosophical standpoint, you either have to say it’s embarrassing on the Phillies part, or impressive on the non-bullpen part of the Mets. For a team with 29 blown saves, including numerous multiple meltdowns, to end with 89 wins, and only 3 games back of the World Champions, barring loads of injuries to their closer, 3 starter, 2B, LF & RF, says something. If that’s the same team that shows up, with a good K-Rod and Putz, with a productive Sean Green and improved Feliciano and Sanchez, it’s legitimate to say they’ll win the division.

The sluggish market and huge payroll the Phillies have now, close to the Mets actually, will catch up with them, if they aren’t competitive. Phillies fans remember back in ’06 when they traded away Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle, even while being competitive, and they could have won the Wild Card that year.
If they’ve hovering a little over .500 around the deadline, and the market doesn’t improve, some fans may be getting boiled. They’ll blame it on Amaro, even though it’ll be ownership’s doing. For as good of a team as Wade and Gillick put together though, the Eaton and Jenkins signings will really come back to bite them.

As to this whole ”team to beat” thing though, the truth is, Jimmy will have to do a lot more hitting than he did in the postseason to keep the Phillies going. If the Phillies didn’t win the WS, you know he’d have a different reaction to that question, so he may not have the same fire anymore. For what it’s worth though, with all these steroid allegations circulating, it’s possible Jimmy was a user in 2007, considering those numbers. It didn’t suprise J.C. Romero was either, because he was about as riled up as Peter Griffin in Family Guy when he was on steroids, in that game, ironically 17 games prior to the end of the season, when he was screaming at Chris Coste. Also, another note worth mentioning is no NL team, who’ve won at least one division, has won more than one World Series since 1983, ironically a year the Phillies loss the World Series.

Did I say the Phillies would fade? lol What I said was that the odds are against the Phillies winning a World Series or Pennant. Although weird things have happened, I’d have to be a fool to tell you the Phillies would end up sub-.500 or not be competitive next season.

The Mets went 11-7 against the Phillies last season. The were leading 6-2 in the 9th inning in one game, after a Santana outing, in which their bullpen melted down. The other infamous one was when they were up 7-0 with Pedro on the mound, than he gave up 5 runs in one inning, and they wound up losing in 13 innings. They nearly loss that other game they were up 10-1 too, but held on 10-9. If you place those two wins back under the Mets belt and away from the Phillies though, the Mets would have won the division by a game, and the Phillies would have tied the Brewers for the Wild Card. Of course, those are all what if’s, but my point is, I’m showing you the vulnerabilities of the ’09 Phillies and the challenges their going up against.

I’m sure you watched last season though. No matter what team it is, just like the Rockies in ’07, it’s about getting hot at the end. The two teams who dominated, the Cubs and Angels, both got knocked out in the 1st round. It took all the right components coming together for the Phillies to do it, and I’ve got to tip my hat to them. Philosophically speaking though, if a team with 29 blown saves ended up 3 games behind a Phillies team that was 48 for 48 in the 9th inning, postseason included, it’s reasonable to say the Mets had just as good of an offense, defense and starting pitching, if not better. Now the Mets don’t have such a bad bullpen with K-Rod and Putz though. And the Phils pen inevitably won’t be so perfect. The Mets bullpen was like a boulder last season. Had the Mets had the Phils bullpen last season, they would have won 110 games, and had the Phils had the Mets pen, they’d probably be .500 at best.

It’s nothing to discredit the ’08 Phillies World Series team, although Romero cheating leaves a sour taste, as does this whole A-Rod thing. If Jimmy did steroids in ’07 though, big deal, the Phils didn’t do much in the postseason that year anyway. In ’08, the Phillies were a great team, at the end. In ’07, winning the division was practically a consolation prize to one of the most embarrassing collapses in professional sports history.

Regardless though, it’s 2009, and when you look at the overall rosters at this point, last season is irrelevant. It gives more to the rivalry, but on paper, statistically analyzing the Mets are ”supposed” to win the division. Honestly, I think both of these teams will make the postseason, likely with the Mets winning the division. I really have no clue why Phillies fans, or Phillies themselves, whether it be Jimmy, or Mitch Williams, are so fascinated with the Mets. It’s like their in love with them, even after collapsing and ”semi-collpasing” back-to-back seasons.

There’s nothing wrong with being confident, but one thing Philadelphia fans know is, giving themselves false hope hurts in the long run. Not that the Eagles didn’t have anything to do with that though.

Regardless, I think this will be an exciting season, but if you think the Phillies are the one random NL team who can defy expectations that haven’t been for 30+ years in the NL, or even 12+ for pennants, than you’re nothing more than a hopeful fan.

I probably hit a nerve reminding you of all that, but hey, it’s baseball. Also, if you know anything about the Mets collapses, you’d know of ’98, when similarly to ’08, the Mets were up 5 games with a 1 game lead over an NL Central team (Cubs) in the Wild Card. They loss all 5 games, while the Cubs won 2 of 5 and won the wild card. If they just won one of those games (I believe two were against the Expos), they would have had a one game playoff.

What happened in ’99 and ’00 though? Look at the ’97 & ’98 Mets records (88 & 88) and ’07 & ’08 (88 & 89) exactly 10 years later. In ’99, the Mets had a Beltran in their line-up on opening day, along with a switch hitting CF, they had a left-handed ace, switched from a left-handed to right-handed closer and had a great base stealer (Rickey) as their lead-off hitter, who’s know for ”showboating”, like Jose. The Mets also had a 3B with 30+ home runs (Ventura), which Wright will likely match. In ’99, the Mets won 97 games. It’s awkward and ironic how the two decades have paralleled one another for the Mets, but if history does repeat itself, don’t think the Mets got a bad road ahead of them. If history does repeat itself though, for the Phillies, it could be signaling what happened after the 1980 season. The Phillies track record following that season for a few years wasn’t bad, but it didn’t include any titles.

It’ll be an exciting season… But you’re going down. The Mets are taking over this division. Just think about this though… Hypothetically, if the Mets do win the division, how bad will it taste? If the Phillies win the division, it’s not like it’ll be anything new… These two teams will be really good for the next 3 years, but the truth is, when Howard, Rollins, Hamels, Lidge and a bunch of guys become free agents, especially Howard… you may see it all hit the fan.

You’re telling me two chokes in a row after telling me to just worry about my team though? How does that make any sense? lol Listen, regardless of what the Mets do, if the Phillies can’t keep themselves on the map, it could be irrelevant to you… If there was one part of the team that should have been upgraded, it was the starting rotation. You don’t fix what’s not broken, and even though Burrell’s streaky, he’s right-handed, was a Phillie for years, younger and would have come cheaper. That extra money they used on Ibanez instead of Burrell, mixed with what they used on Park, along with what they used on Moyer would have been more than enough to sign Derek Lowe, who the Phillies were originally interested in… Can’t wait to see how Brett and Jamie prevail in the dog days next year though… Pray the Mets don’t sign Manny.

By any measure, the Phillies offense had an off year last season due to injury and inconsistency. The most inconsistent offender (Burrell) is gone and the Phillies appear to be getting healthy.
The Phillies HAVE upgraded the starting rotation. Blanton was not here last spring, Myers is back healthy (both physically and mentally and in a contract year) and Eaton will not throw one pitch this season for the Phillies. There is a four man competition for the 5 spot and that is definitely a plus.
With your blather about nobody being able to repeat in recent years, I suggest you go back over the last decade and see how the rosters of the defending champs changed in the offseason. The Phillies are a team that is intact and most of the players are in the prime of their careers. I don’t care what happens three years down the road, I care about 2009. And the Phillies are, BY DEFINITION, the team to beat.

You have a lot of “what ifs” in your arguments. I don’t have any of that. We saw what happened down the stretch the last two years and there is no doubt that Philly holds the better hand this year. The Mets have baggage and the first time they go on a little backslide, which happens in a 162 game season, it will all come rushing back. The Phillies, on the other hand, know that they can recover from anything.

Any comparison to the Phillies in ’80-’81 is meaningless considering the strike, nyjo.
Frankly I expect both the Mets and Phillies to make the postseason. I think they and the Cubs are easily the class of the NL. I just expect the Phillies to be much improved in 2009. They are not a .255 hitting team, as they were in 2008 for multiple reasons, and they should approach 100 wins this season.

My point wasn’t to compare them to the ’80-81 Phillies. My point was that, statistically speaking, the odds are really against the Phillies. This isn’t the AL. Naturally, you’ll have a bias, and think, what the hell am I talking about. But look at the Cardinals, prior to ’06. Six division titles in seven years? They finally win one and than what happens?

No matter what team it is, unless they’re talent is that powerful, which I can’t many teams like that in recent memory, besides the ’07 Red Sox, or ’98-’00 Yankees, it takes luck and having everything come together at the right time. That means having your stars avoid injuries (Lidge missed the beginning of the season and is still vulnerable) and remaining productive. I encourage the Phillies to bring it. No defending World Champion is ever expected to not have a good shot to do it again. Like it or not though, the odds are against them, and there are other factors, such as economics, and hunger, that can play it’s way into this. So, odds are against them, maybe even to just make the postseason again, but hey, good luck to them.

”With your blather about nobody being able to repeat in recent years, I suggest you go back over the last decade and see how the rosters of the defending champs changed in the offseason.”

Ask yourself this. The Phillies have had 80+ win seasons the last 8 seasons, most in which were mid-to-high 80’s. If the Phillies weren’t cheap, and held onto Schilling, who wound up winning 2 WS’s, instead of acquiring Padilla, maybe they’d have more than one ring this decade.

”By any measure, the Phillies offense had an off year last season due to injury and inconsistency. The most inconsistent offender (Burrell) is gone and the Phillies appear to be getting healthy.”

Couldn’t the same be said of the Mets, or other teams too though? Really, beyond the last few weeks, these two teams were matched up well, counting the Mets terrible bullpen. If you look at the first 140 or so games, the Mets, sadly, even with Luis Ayala as their closer, may have been just as good a team. Now with K-Rod and Putz? Being fair, the Phillies roster right now, excluding Romero’s suspension, and Utley’s injury, is equal to that of last season. Ibanez is healthier, but he’s older, and lefty and has less power than Pat, so it’s questionable. There’s pros and cons to the move, but my point was, they overpaid.

”The Phillies HAVE upgraded the starting rotation. Blanton was not here last spring, Myers is back healthy (both physically and mentally and in a contract year) and Eaton will not throw one pitch this season for the Phillies. There is a four man competition for the 5 spot and that is definitely a plus.”

Well, last spring, they had a few prospects, they wish they could have had, that may have helped them get Matt Holiday, instead of a mediocre, at best, 4 starter. Joe Blanton is solid, in terms of innings, but for a whole season, he’s not impressive. What makes you think Myers is back both physically and mentally? I’m not saying Myers isn’t a decent pitcher, but he’s not who you want as your 2. He’s more cut out for a 3 or 4, because he can get inconsistent. Also, what makes you think Scott Eyre will be productive? Or healthy? Did you see his numbers on the Cubs prior to arriving to Philadelphia? Without the safety net of Romero, who’s to say he’ll pitch well? Besides Eyre, you’re depending on guy’s like Clay Condrey and Chad Durbin, who was roughed up at the end of last season, to be as good next season?

”With your blather about nobody being able to repeat in recent years”

Call it what ever you want, but facts are facts. It’s not even a matter of repeating titles, but repeating pennants, and even getting to the postseason is a struggle.

”The Phillies are a team that is intact and most of the players are in the prime of their careers.”

But are they superior to any competitive roster in the NL? Are they better than the Cubs? Or the Mets? Or the Dodgers with Manny? They’re one team, in the bunch, who was hot last season. The Rockies were that team in 2007. They had to deal with the Red Sox though, so that’s why they lost. Perhaps the Phillies would have too, although they may have beat them, considering there was no Manny, but the Rays were like the ’07 AL version of the Rockies. The Phillies are a good team. But they’re not better, and still only look, roster wise, to be about 3rd best in the NL. This isn’t the AL.

”I don’t care what happens three years down the road, I care about 2009. And the Phillies are, BY DEFINITION, the team to beat.”

Are you talking in terms of the NL East or for another World Series? lol If you’re talking about a World Series, than you’ve ”outblathered” me. Sure, they got a good chance to win the division, but so do the Mets. There’s a good chance both of them will get in. Based on statistical analysis though, and apparently now hunger, the Mets are supposed to win the division. Maybe we’ll all be stunned by a team like the Marlins though.

”You have a lot of “what ifs” in your arguments.”

That depends on how you look at it. You said the Phillies are the team to beat in 2009. Couldn’t that be a ”what if?” My argument, is based on solid fact, that the NL is very competitively balanced, and there’s loads of evidence to show that. To say the Phillies are just not apart of this, is simply a bias fan’s point of view, not reality.

”We saw what happened down the stretch the last two years and there is no doubt that Philly holds the better hand this year.”

Why do the Phillies hold the better hand this year though? The problem is, you’re intertwining this with 2008, and apparently, 2007. How is that relevant right now? Is Luis Ayala still the Mets closer? Is Brian Stokes the 8th inning set-up man? What you haven’t answered to me is, why did a team that had 29 blown saves, only end up 3 games behind the World Champs, who were 88-0 when leading in the 9th inning.

Doesn’t that say there was a disproportional level of talent for the Mets in terms of line-ups, benches, starting rotation and defense? It was all about the bullpen, which the Phillies had the best of, and the Mets arguably had the worst of, in all baseball. So, between that ”disproportion” and K-Rod and Putz, it has to make you question where you get your ”better hand” theory from. Each season is separate from one another. If I were wrong, the Rockies wouldn’t have sucked in 2008, nor would have the Cardinals wouldn’t have sucked in 2007.

”The Mets have baggage and the first time they go on a little backslide, which happens in a 162 game season, it will all come rushing back. The Phillies, on the other hand, know that they can recover from anything.”

The Phillies don’t have baggage? So Jimmy Rollins calling you guy’s ”front runners” has evaporated from the ”back burner?” When they win, sure, but wait till it hits the fan. Something tells me Jason Donald may be playing shortstop when his contract expires, in two seasons. No need to mention Brett Myers wife beating though.

Why would it all come ”rushing back?” If that were the case, when Willie Randolph was fired, and the Mets were 34-35, why did the Mets go on to have the best record in baseball in July and August? I’m not sure what you’re getting your logic from. Lastly, the Phillies ”recovering” from anything. So one title changes a 126 year history. Well, if history does repeat itself, you better hope it doesn’t. Save yourself the misery. I have to say though, the privilege of winning a World Series is you get to hold your head high, but that only lasts for so long. When you’re knocked back to reality, and not in the postseason next October, you’ll be talking about how it’s okay, because you won the 2008 World Series. Than you’ll be saying the same thing for the next decade, until it gets too old. They can recover from anything, yet they still have the same ownership that’s subjected their fans to pitiful baseball. Listen, we’ll see what happens, but at the end of this year, we’ll see who’ll be talking.

Phan, I can see where you’re coming from in that statement, but in many ways, you can say the same about the Cardinals of ’06. Truthfully, no one would have expected a team with a low-80 win total, to do it.

As witnessed in the postseason, and especially the World Series, the Phillies leave to many in scoring position. Also, many people remember the Phillies struggled during the 8th inning, during certain parts of the summer. Who’s to say Lidge will remain as effective? But, going back to the offense, the fact is, there’s that physical lay off a World Series title brings to any team. If they made it World Series, I think they’d be more motivated. I think they are mentallty motivated to improve their weaknesses right now, but I believe that the fact they’ve done it will put less pressure on them. Pressure is what can keep a team competitive.
So while there’s no reason to say there’s no room for improvement offensively, there’s no reason to believe it’ll be improved, until we see it happen.

LOL!! The Mets had the best record in baseball in July and August? That’s what you’re hanging your hat on? What happened to the hangover at the beginning of the year and, of course, one more September? September, when it all, as I said, came ‘rushing back”. The Phillies recovered from deep holes the last two Septembers and even if the Mets had not melted down, they got themselves back into wild card position. They have that going for them. They know.
That was a pretty long dissertation with one obvious aim. You are not trying to convince me; you are trying to convince yourself.

My point is, isn’t it sad that a team with 29 blown saves was even able to lead your team be 3 1/2 games with 17 to go? Unlike 2007, when it was a collective team collapse, the bullpen was the sole reason for the collapse. The Mets scored the same amount of runs as the Phillies, ranking tied for 2nd in the NL. I believe they had more quality starts too. The fact is, even without K-Rod and Putz, these two teams weren’t that distance from each other, but now that they’ve got both of them, it’ll really test both and see what they’re made of. Honestly, if I were a betting man, I’d say this is 50/50, to who wins the division. I’d say there’s an 80 percent chance both teams get in the postseason together. For what it’s worth though, if that bullpen went 11-7 against you guy’s last season, and had significant lead in 13 out of 18 games, you probably wouldn’t want to play us in the postseason, with K-Rod and Putz.

Your theory is flawed. Your analysis is based on two Septembers, even though in one of them, the rationale was obvious, no closer and no John Maine. The Mets were in position to win the majority of their remaining games in 2008, unlike 2007, but Ayala blew back-to-back saves against the Braves in the 9th inning of both games, two weeks before the season ended. Had K-Rod had the ball in those games, the Mets would have won both, and been the wild card and may have beaten the Phillies, considering they were 11-7 against them during the year. The problem is you’re scared. When I bring up this discussion, you go right to the Mets. If I wanted to talk about the Mets, and solely the Mets on here, I wouldn’t have come to this board. I was speaking on where the Phillies stand, but you’re obviously unwilling to confront all the facts, because if you did, you’d realize the Mets have a real good shot to win this division. One word: Hunger. Two reasons for why the Mets will do it: K-Rod & Putz. Refer back to this in October, if you’d like. By the way, my goal wasn’t to convince you. My goal was to show you, through facts, that these two teams are good, but the Phillies are very vulnerable. The NL is well balanced, remember that. The Phillies aren’t an exception to the rule, just because their your favorite.

Jimmy Rollins: Phillies fans are front-runners.

Let’s see where you, or your ”companions” are, if you’re back to .500.

Now the Phillies are a .500 team. Dude, you really are making me laugh.
…blah, blah, blah…if this, if that. You equivocate with the best of them. You have no idea how Putz and K-Rod are going to pitch in the oven that is NY. Putz pitched for a pathetic last place team with no pressure in the great Northwest. Who knew they were even playing? Plus, the guy wants to close. We all saw what happened to Myers last year when he couldn’t get the job he wanted. And K-Rod has been pitching in laid back LA, again with no pressure. They have no competition in that division. Let’s see how he handles pitching on the east coast under the bright lights with a huge contract. I’ll believe it when I see it because his postseason numbers are nowhere near as good as his regular season numbers. You’re putting a lot of eggs in an unknown basket.
World Series Champions. Deal with it.

Listen, I’m basing my analysis off of stat. Your analysis is being a Phillie fan and words like ”dude.” Yeah, you were the 2008 World Champs. So? Weren’t the Giants Super Bowl Champs just a year ago? How is that relevant now? How was it relevant last season? It wasn’t. The great thing about baseball is each season is a new year and different things happen. The key stat is that 4 out of 7 of the last NL teams who’ve won World Series in the last 21 years ended up sub-.500 in their following season. So keep your bla..bla..bla to yourself. It’s not like your Phillies came out impressing in their first spring training game. The Mets weren’t so bad though… I have no idea how they’ll pitch in the ”oven?” Well, lets put it this way. Remember that Albert Pujols home run off of Brad Lidge? Philly’s not an easy place to pitch in either. Who’d think he’d have such a great season, even barring injuries? K-Rod’s won a world series, hasn’t he? He has a lot of energy. He wants to pitch here. He was offered the same contract by the Cardinals, but chose the Mets. He wants to be on this stage and knows how to get it done.

Not every year Putz pitched for the Mariners were they as terrible as last season. Plus, he was hurt for some of last season, but it wasn’t for a detrimental kind of injury (finger nail). They still played the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays and all those teams throughout the year. Your theory of K-Rod is relevant to Myers wanting to close? How? K-Rod’s an established closer. Myers is a SP. Are you comparing him to Putz? Putz understands his role. He knows he won’t be the closer. He’s a free agent in 2 years, and if he impresses as a set-up man, there could be a nice check out there for him later on. Putz is also an established closer though, and prior to becoming one, was an established set up man. Brett Myers never belonged in the bullpen period, but was down there, because the Phillies had no other choice, in ’07. As it turns out though, I’m sure Myers won’t be upset about moving back into the rotation, considering 2 or 3 SP’s get paid better than closer’s or set up men. K-Rod pitched in a World Series. He pitched in several post-seasons. He’s pitched against the Yankees and loads of other teams. I’m not saying he’ll save 62 games, but he’s going to have a damn good season. And if for no other reason that he’s a great perk, I believe he’s never been on the DL once in his career, unlike your guy. And by the way, actually, the Angels, without K-Rod and Texeira, with an improved A’s team, may have some pressure in their division.

His ”huge” contract is still technically less than Lidge’s extension signed last summer. He’ll adapt fine. If the Phillies are going to beat the Mets, they’ll have to do it in the first 7 innings. What makes you think Lidge will be ”lights out” or even healthy again? Even if the 9th is a lock for you guy’s, you saw how shaky the 8th inning was last season. The only time Madson was dominant was the last month and in the postseason.
You have no idea how bad it’ll hurt you guys not having J.C. Romero, with no Ohman, Beimel or Reyes, for the first 2 months. Plus, don’t undermine the possibility Utley will get hurt, by rushing, or won’t play well for a long stretch, like last season, because of it. If it were just K-Rod, I might agree with your ”eggs theory”, but with Putz too, it’s undeniably arguably one of the best combinations baseball has seen at the end of a game in a while. It’s one closer, in the top 3, at worst, with another who’d be in the top 5-10. The last combination I could think of, over a whole season, that was this lethal, was John Wetteland and Mariano Rivera, in 1996. And what was the result of that season?

”World Series Champions. Deal with it.”

What are you like a spaz or something? lol I’ve never had a problem with you. You guy’s are rightfully defending World Champions. But what you need to deal with is that 2009 is a new year, and odds are against you. In fact, odds are even against you, that you’ll win the division, and that’s basing off Vegas standards. This team still has all the positive components of last season, with no Willie Randolph, a good manager, and a great closer and set-up man. You’re fear of being taking over is flattering, but you’ll learn how to live with it.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.